MPH practicum student, Megan Steeves, wrote about her Very ‘Paws’itive Practicum (Oct, 2016). Megan is the recipient of a CIHR Practicum Student Award.

In 2019, Dr. Dell and her team will be working alongside Holly McKenzie, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy Houston Post-Doctoral Fellow. Her project is titled “Introducing a Therapy Dog Visiting Program in the Emergency Department: A Case Study of Policy Development Processes”.

Dr. Dell and her team will also be working alongside Post-Doctoral Fellow Beverly Morrison, and Dr. Joe Rubin of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, on a project titled “Antimicrobial Resistance in Therapy Dogs”. Funding is provided by the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient Oriented Research and Prairie Diagnostic Services.

From January 2011–2013, Dr. Randy Duncan held a Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship with Dr. Dell to construct and validate a culturally competent instrument among First Nations youth who misuse volatile solvents as a measure of client change (improved behavioural functioning and well-being) in Equine Assisted Learning programs. More information is available here. This work expanded beyond the volatile solvent realm to First Nations Youth in general; the instrument was pilot tested with youth who attended the I.D.E.A.L. program at One Arrow First Nation Equestrian Centre.

Since the completion of the fellowship, Dr. Duncan has been working with CanPraxis to evaluate the effectiveness of an equine-assisted psychotherapy intervention to support the recovery of veterans in Canada from post-traumatic stress disorder. Learn more here.